Overview
Based in Leuven and connected to the imec photonics research ecosystem, Swave Photonics is building the semiconductor technology needed to produce true holographic displays in a form factor small enough for consumer AR glasses. Current AR headsets use waveguides and micro-LED arrays that are bulky, power-hungry, or produce limited field of view. Swave's holographic approach aims to solve these limitations at the chip level.
The EUR 43M raise reflects the capital intensity of deep-tech hardware development and investor interest in the AR display technology race as Meta, Apple, and others accelerate their mixed reality hardware programs.
Swave is part of the Belgian photonics and semiconductor cluster that benefits from imec's unique fabrication and research infrastructure in Leuven.
Funding & milestones
4 events found for Swave Photonics · 2022–2025
SeedVenture / equity1 source€7M
Reported amount €7,000,000
Imec announced the initial €7m seed round for its Leuven spin-off.
Seed extensionVenture / equity1 source€3M
Reported amount €3,000,000
The additional €3m extended the seed round to €10m; only the incremental €3m is recorded.
Series AVenture / equity1 source€27M
Reported amount €27,000,000
The company announced a €27m Series A close co-led by imec.xpand and SFPIM Relaunch.
Investorsimec.xpandSFPIM RelaunchEIC FundIAG Capital PartnersMurata Electronics North AmericaQbic FundPMVimecLuminate
Series a extensionVenture / equity1 source€6M
Reported amount €6,000,000
An additional €6m followed the January Series A; IAG led and Samsung Ventures participated.
InvestorsIAG Capital PartnersSamsung Ventures
Recorded history so far. Original currencies are preserved; amounts in different currencies are not added together. Debt, grants, acquisitions and listings are separate event types. Undated events appear last.
Key people
In the news
- Beyond the Beam: Meet Prithu 👨🍳⚡ Turns out, photonics isn’t Prithu’s only specialty. As our Senior Photonics Engineer for AR/VR, Prithu spends his days tackling some pretty complex challenges at Swave. And every now and then, he tackles a different kind of challenge: feeding the team. Prithu is known for bringing in his home-cooked dishes and sharing them with everyone. And judging by how quickly the plates are emptied, we can confirm: the GOAT holds no secrets for him. 🐐😄 Thanks for spoiling the team, Prithu. We’re very happy
- On this 21st of October, we celebrate the DAY OF PHOTONICS! 🥳 Photonics, the science that studies photons, the light particules, powers many technical advances at Swave, particularly the ability to steer light with spatial light modulators and sculpt it into holograms! But photonics is also used in a surprisingly wide variety of research and applications: from medical treatment, to telecommunication, from displays and lighting to cameras and sensing... Whether you are directly involved in Photonics or you simply enjoy the beauty
- Today is Ada Lovelace Day! Celebrating the woman often called the world's first computer programmer, and honoring women in science, technology, engineering, and math everywhere. 💜 Nearly 200 years ago, Ada Lovelace saw what a machine could become before anyone else did. That same kind of vision drives the women on our team today. The ones designing the optics, running the experiments, and pushing the physics of holographic displays forward at Swave. To every woman in STEM shaping what's next: THANK YOU... and happy Ada
- Swave Photonics is excited to take part in the upcoming EPIC - EUROPEAN PHOTONICS INDUSTRY CONSORTIUM Technology Meeting at EssilorLuxottica on 13–14 October 2026, an event supported by The AR Alliance. We will be gathering with industry pioneers, innovators, and peers to explore "The Tipping Point" in augmented reality and examine how holography is shaping the future of visual experiences. Attending the event? Reach out to Francois Couny to connect and arrange a meetup! #AugmentedReality #Photonics #SwavePhotonics
- Did you know Swave runs two labs? One in Leuven, Belgium, 🇧🇪 and one in Redmond, Washington, home to our 8-person US team? 🇺🇸 That's where Julian, our PhD Optical Research Scientist, works on the first applications of the world's most precise visible-light wavefront modulator. "My life at Swave is so fantastical," he says. "Every morning I drive through the magical forests of the Pacific Northwest, only to arrive at a state-of-the-art lab to work with holograms. It's like waking up in The Lord of the Rings and having my office
- Imagine overcoming the physical limitations of traditional AR display setups by freeing design from rigid optical constraints, actively correcting for aberrations or misalignments, and rendering visual content across flexible focal distances. By creating computer-generated holograms (CGHs) tailored for Swave Photonics’ sub-300nm pitch spatial light modulators (SLM), computational optics solves several key AR challenges: Dynamic Depth Focus: Continuous digital focal planes from 20 cm to infinity provide natural accommodation cues
- BEYOND THE BEAM: MEET STEVEN 👋Today is IT Appreciation Day, which gives us a pretty good excuse to put Steven in the spotlight. As our IT Manager, Steven is one of those people whose work you notice most when it isn’t being done. Systems running, people connected, access working, security taken care of.... all the things we tend to take for granted until something stops cooperating. 😉 And at Swave, IT isn’t exactly a side note. Building deep tech means having a reliable, secure and scalable IT environment behind the scenes. Steven
- The future of computing is all about finding clever and simple solutions to complex problems. It's about an interface disappearing entirely. We are on the cusp of Invisible Computing. Imagine a world where your glasses look completely normal, but function as a powerful conduit for information. Artificial intelligence (AI) agents assist continuously, anticipating your needs and guiding your attention without being intrusive. Information appears exactly where and when you need it, woven seamlessly into your physical
Open roles
- FREELANCE: DFT Engineer - Project-Based (fully remote possible)Wavre · Aug 23, 2026
- Industrialisation ManagerJul 12, 2026
- Head of AIWavre · Jun 28, 2026
- Instrumentation EngineerWavre · Apr 24, 2026
Alumni
Mike NoonenChief Executive Officer→Board Member at Silver Pegasus Acquisition Corp.(NASDAQ: SPEGU)
Backers
imec.xpand
Independent deep-tech VC linked to imec, focused on semiconductors and nanotechnology with EUR 300M under management.
QBIC
Belgian inter-university deep-tech fund backed by UGent, VUB, UAntwerp, UHasselt, ULiege, VITO, imec, and partner hospitals.
Pitchdrive
Pitchdrive is a venture capital fund that invests in pre-seed and seed stage startups, with four funds raised totaling €250K-2M in first-check investments, and a portfolio of over 70 companies backed globally.
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